Dress Whites and mind games
by krolinette
Summary: Lisbon receives an unexpected phone call from someone who cares about her : Sarah knows her well and she is not going to let her waste her time pretending she doesn't want more from Jane.
1. Chapter 1

**Dress Whites and mind games**

**A/N : **

**This story has 2 authors : Krolinette and Country2776 ****+ A huge thanks to our beta pjtl4e :)**

**It includes characters from JAG but it's clearly The Mentalist centered so we're publishing it here and not it the Crossover section.**

**It's a multi-parter but we don't know yet how long it will be. We're working on chapter 2 right now.  
**

**And last but not least, we're desperate Jello shippers so you can count on us for the happy ending :)**

**Disclaimer : Last time I checked, neither of us was Bruno Heller... He's the owner you know...**

Chapter 1 : 

It was already dark by the time Teresa Lisbon left the office; she headed toward her car thinking about her day at work.

As the head of the Serious Crimes Unit at the Californian Bureau of Investigation, she had a tough job; but that was what she considered to be her thing, solving crimes.

What she didn't consider to be part of her job, on the other hand, was consoling colleagues on their relationship problems. She had just been stuck in the elevator with a bawling Van Pelt and was grateful the rookie had not wished to talk too much about it. Grace had just said she was fine, and even if you didn't need to be Patrick Jane to notice it was a big fat lie, Lisbon was happy to make the short journey to the car park without any awkward 'girl' talk.

Lisbon didn't feel comfortable talking about the Van Pelt/Rigsby situation because she felt like it was unfair to make her agents make a choice between their love life and their careers.

"It's difficult enough to find somebody you want to have a relationship with, so it's just so lame that CBI rules get in the way like that!" She muttered.

"Wow !" Lisbon grinned to herself while opening her car door, "It's so not me to think that way about rules! Oh god, I've been corrupted...."

The ringing of her cell phone interrupted her train of thoughts.

She had a shock when she looked at the caller ID, there in bold print was her half sister's name, Sarah Mackenzie.

She hadn't talked to her since her "almost wedding" to the Australian Mic Brumby. Sarah had called her wedding off because of her twisted relationship with her partner at JAG, Commander Harmon Rabb Jr; although she would never admit that to anyone, including herself. But Lisbon knew better. She hadn't known Sarah for very long, in fact she had no idea she even had a sister for the majority of her life.

But she knew her well enough to understand that.

Lisbon had become aware of having a sister a few years ago, when Sarah Mackenzie, Major in the Marine Corps, had called her asking if she was related to a Joseph Mackenzie Lisbon. Lisbon had been quite surprised to be asked about her father but she had explained that Joseph Lisbon had died more than 10 years before. At the other end of the line, Sarah had been shocked for a few minutes and then she had begun to explain that she was calling because she wanted to get in touch with her father, who she hadn't seen since she was small. That's how Lisbon had learnt that her father had had a first daughter before he married her mother.

She would remember this first phone call all her life. After the initial apprehensiveness, Sarah and Teresa had grown closer and closer because they were both thrilled to having found each other. They lived quite far from each other, Teresa worked in San Francisco and Sarah was in Washington DC but they talked on the phone often and they visited each other at least twice a year.

But unfortunately, when Sarah had broken Mic Brumby's heart, they had had a big argument.

_ When Sarah's partner, Harm, went MIA the day before the wedding, Teresa noticed immediately that something was odd with her sister. _

_ She knew Sarah had feelings for the missing man but she hadn't realized just how strong they were. She believed her sister was truly in love with her future husband and she was shocked when she understood that Sarah wasn't sure she was doing the right thing._

_ She stayed with her until Harm was found but when Sarah decided to call off the wedding, Teresa felt like she needed to say something._

_ She couldn't help but recall all the times her sister had called late at night talking about the latest of Harm girlfriends, pretending she didn't care so much. But calling off her wedding with Mic said otherwise. Teresa couldn't understand how her sister could pin all her hopes on a man like Harm, who seemed to not be able to commit to anything, while she had Mic, who was truly in love with her and was willing to make her happy._

_ "Are you going to spend the rest of your life not taking chances on life? Because Harm sure isn't! As a matter of fact, I __bet__ he's having sex with Renee as we speak."_

_ She wanted to make her sister realize she needed to stop being in denial. She told her she had to make a choice : either she could decide Harm was not worth waiting and then go on with her life, which was clearly not what she was doing right now, canceling her wedding, or she could act on her feelings and confront Harm about his twisted behavior toward her._

_ Teresa had added that she was truly disappointed with what her sister was putting Mic through. She had said terrible things such as "you don't deserve a guy like him if you can't even be honest with yourself"._

As she was recalling this argument they had had, Lisbon thought that maybe she had been a little harsh on her sister. As a matter of fact, Sarah had closed her out completely after this. They hadn't talked to each other since that day.

Lisbon was so caught up in thinking about the past, she almost missed the call, answering her phone on the last ring.

"Hello Sarah, how are you?"

Her voice was shaky but she composed herself. Her sister was a tough marine and, for goodness sake, she was a special agent for the CBI herself.

Ever since Sarah had first called her, Lisbon was tempted to consider herself the little sister and let go a little of her control issue. She had always been the big girl who needed to take care of her little brothers so her relationship with Sarah had been a big change, at least for the time it had lasted. It had been nice to know someone was willing to take care of her.

"The question is how are you! I've just moved to San Diego and all over the news is about the new CBI boss and how the SCU is coping since the incident with this Red John character, he sounds really dangerous, please be careful!"

"Did Tommy told you I moved from San Francisco to Sacramento to work with the CBI? I didn't know you two were still in touch..."

Lisbon was quite surprised her sister had stayed up to date with her career and all...

"Well, he called me after our argument, he wanted to make things better between his sisters... But I was too stubborn to listen to him I guess... Yeah, he writes to me sometimes and gives me news from you and the guys. But tell me, how is work? What's with the serial killer? How are you dealing with it, it seems pretty bad."

Sarah felt weird doing all this talking, it seemed her sister wasn't so happy with her call.

"I'm fine you know, I'm a big girl... Anyway, is that why you called?"

Lisbon knew she sounded a little pissed with this sudden reappearance of her sister. She was glad to hear from her but she wondered why she would call today, of all times, just when she was in a quite bad mood. Her sister was an example for her : she had been to Afghanistan and had had so many other fearless experiences that she had always wanted to keep up with her sister's level of professionalism. And these days, she was not feeling particularly proud of herself.

Even if she wouldn't admit it to anyone, her new boss, Madeleine Hightower, was starting to make her feel uneasy. The woman had threatened her with losing her job if she couldn't handle her consultant well enough. That was not something that would have happened with her former boss, Virgil Minelli. Back when he was in charge, he would simply have threatened Jane, but now, it was her butt which was on the line and she could tell it was not an idle threat...

Patrick Jane was becoming more than a pain in her ass, she couldn't imagine losing her job, which was actually close to being the most important thing in her life, because of his bad behavior. She hated this feeling of losing grip but she didn't know who there was to blame.

She knew she had some flaws but she had never had the feeling she was getting too soft with her team. Maybe she should have done something about the Van Pelt and Rigsby situation but it wasn't the main matter. Patrick Jane was.

As her new boss had said, he was a valuable asset for the team and, as difficult as it was, it was her job to keep him in line. She hated that Hightower assumed she wasn't good enough for this. She was a good team leader, she knew that because the SCU had always had the best closed cases rate since she was in charge, even before Jane. She knew she was actually doing a good job at handling him, no matter what Hightower thought. Lisbon was comforted by the thought her boss had no idea what mess Jane could cause without her supervising ; so at least she knew she had some kind of control over him, even if it wasn't that obvious. Jane could be unpredictable but she had learnt a lot about him since she had first worked with him.

All these years of fighting against his unusual methods and damage controlling his reckless behavior had made her the most qualified person when it came to dealing with Patrick Jane. She knew it and she just had to convince her boss of her abilities.

"Teresa? Hello? Are you still there?"

Sarah was almost shouting at the other end of the line, trying to reestablish contact with her sister, who had been quite lost in her thoughts, again.

"I'm sorry, I'm a bit preoccupied by something... You were saying?"

"Listen, I called to try and make things better between us, I hate how we left things, I want my sister back. We're only 500 miles away from each other now, it doesn't make sense we aren't close... I'd like to pay you a visit in Sacramento if you're OK with it!"

Lisbon heard someone in the background but couldn't make out the voice.

"Well, if you're in California... We should see each other I guess."

She was shocked, she had never thought her sister would leave DC, especially with the Harm situation.

"What about Harm?" She asked, trying to sound innocent.

"I have a lot to tell you about everything and I guess same goes for you. What are you up to at the weekend? I've got a few days leave, I could drive down tomorrow and we could spend some time together."

"I'd like that..."

"Good ! How about I pick you up at work tomorrow evening and we'll plan our weekend together then."

"Sounds good to me, see you tomorrow !"

After she hung up, Teresa wondered if her sister had really managed to leave Harm behind her and move on with her life, just like she had advised her to several years ago.

She knew Sarah's job at JAG was the most important thing in her life, just as her's at CBI was to herself, so she had a hard time believing that she would just move straight to the other side of the country without regretting her job and missing her coworkers.

These days, when Teresa had caught herself thinking about her sister's situation, she had realized she was coming to a better understanding of Sarah's relationship with her partner.

She knew Harm was very important to her and she couldn't help but think that if she had someone she cared that much for in her life, she probably wouldn't have the guts to leave, no matter how complicated the situation would be.

"I don't think I could do it" she told herself.

The thing Teresa Lisbon realized she hadn't noticed was that this new perspective she had about her sister's life might have something to do with her own relationship with the consultant of hers.

Right then, she looked up and outside her car, in the distance, stood Patrick Jane.

She watched as Jane waved at her, coming closer to the car. He was smiling, as always, which was the only thing Lisbon wasn't annoyed by about him. She rolled her window down and waved back.

"Oh yeah !" She thought. "He believes he can bail on me back at the elevator situation and get through with it just with that lovely smile of his? Maybe I should punch him in the nose again so that he really gets what I'm made of."

"So, how is Van Pelt?" He asked innocently, standing outside the car, his hands in his pockets.

"She's fine, from what she told... As if you even care..."

"Meh, you hurt me! Of course I care for my colleagues!"

"Yeah right, and you left me alone with Van Pelt because you care so much. Please, don't play me... You're a selfish brat!"

"Wow, someone is in a bad mood! What happened in this elevator anyway?"

"I'm not in a bad mood, and if I was, it would have nothing to do with Van Pelt!"

"But it bothers you that Hightower took care of the situation because you couldn't!"

"You know what, mind your own business! I'm really not in the mood to discuss this with you now!"

"See, told you you're in a bad mood!" Jane answered with the face of a kid playing hide-and-seek. "You know you can't lie to me!"

"Yeah right, I need to go now."

Lisbon turned the key in the ignition and her car pulled away, leaving Patrick Jane standing all alone on the parking lot.

**:) Please Review if you have comments :)**

**All constructive criticism is welcome !**

**We hope you liked it !**


	2. Chapter 2

**Dress Whites and mind games**

**A/N: First of all! Thank you very much to all the people who have read chapter 1 :)  
**

**It's our first fanfic for The Mentalist so we're very excited that you guys enjoy it !!!**

**We hope you like this new chapter as well.**

**Disclaimer : Last time I checked, neither of us was Bruno Heller... He's the owner you know...**

Chapter 2:

It took Sarah Mackenzie just over eight hours to drive from San Diego to Sacramento. She had decided to leave earlier than agreed because she had a feeling Teresa was really bothered by something. She wanted to play her part as big sister, and had decided it would be better to find out sooner rather than later.

It was barely 6 o'clock in the morning when she arrived at the CBI building. She hadn't got any sleep at all, but the excitement of seeing her sister again after all this time was keeping her eyes eyes wide open.

The building looked empty, but she knew Teresa well enough to figure she was probably already there, working. Using her initiative, she asked the janitor where she could find Special Agent Teresa Lisbon and smiled widely when he didn't seem slightly surprised that somebody was expecting to find her at work this early.

Following the direction she had just been given, Sarah wondered where she and Teresa had gotten their work ethic from, it sure wasn't their father's. She was remembering her sister telling her about all the times she had dragged him out of the bar when she felt a hand grab her shoulder.

She was expecting to find her sister, but instead she looked into the face of a man with sandy blond hair and luminous blue eyes.

"May I help you Colonel ?" He asked.

She looked down and realized she had not changed out of her uniform; she had been so worried about her sister she'd forgotten to change into her civilian clothes.

The man in front of her reminded her of someone but she just couldn't place him. His blue three pieces suit matched his eyes perfectly and his charming grin looked as though it never quit his face. She was thinking her sister was quite lucky to have guys like this around at work when she remembered a really gorgeous man, left in San Diego, who was all hers. She smiled at the wandering of her thoughts and answered the questioning look of the interloper.

"Hello, I'm looking for Special Agent Teresa Lisbon; do you know where I could find her?"

"I'm Patrick Jane." He answered lifting his hand to greet the woman. "Nice to meet you Miss..."

"Mackenzie, Sarah Mackenzie. I was told her office is in that direction, isn't it?" She said pointing towards the bullpen of the SCU.

"Yes, Lisbon's office is this way. Can I help you with anything else?" Jane said, suspicious and trying to get more from the conversation.

"I'm fine thank you, now if you'll excuse me..."

With that, she strode off again towards Lisbon's office.

Patrick Jane was rather intrigued by this woman, he could tell she wasn't one to let people walk over her and he was quite annoyed he hadn't managed to know what she wanted from Lisbon. He didn't want his boss to be grumpy all day long because of an early unpleasant visit, even if he thought she was the cutest thing when she was in a bad mood. But thinking about it, Jane realized this woman seemed really nothing like an unpleasant visit; she surely had a strong temper but there was also something soft about her. She reminded him of Lisbon: same dark hair and fierce look.

Lisbon was sitting behind her desk, filling paperwork about the last closed case when she heard a knock on the door. She looked at her watch and grinned, wondering which member of her team was becoming such an early bird.

"Come in!"

Sarah entered her sister's office and was greeted by a puzzled look from Special Agent Teresa Lisbon.

"Sarah? But I though you were coming tonight?"

"Yeah, I changed my mind! How are you?"

Lisbon stood from her chair and went to hug her sister.

"Look at you!" She said. "You're gorgeous!"

"Well thanks, but same goes for you! Listen, I'm sorry I'm disturbing you while you're working but I felt like surprising you..." Sarah answered.

"Well, I usually say I don't like surprises if only from this pain in the ass I have for a consultant but this a good one so I forgive you."

"A pain in the ass? Really? Tell me who this guy is so that I can kick his butt! I don't like someone messing with my little sister!"

"That would be Patrick Jane..." Lisbon said with a tired voice.

"Patrick Jane? The gorgeous guy I've just met outside?" Sarah said, quite happy she had had the right impression about the man.

"Have you? Well, sorry if he's been rude to you..." Lisbon was troubled at the idea of her consultant being his usual irksome self with her sister.

"Guess what? I had kind of guessed you would have a problem with a guy like that, but tell me more about him, how comes he is so much trouble? A bit intense perhaps, definitely a little intruding but he seemed OK. Harmless even..."

"Yeah, he seems OK... Did you just say something about him being gorgeous? Please keep that quiet. He's already full of himself..."

"I bet he is, have you seen that smile?"

Lisbon rolled her eyes and glared at the woman in front of her.

"You know, we should go grab coffee somewhere; for all I know, he could be eavesdropping on us right now."

Saying that, Lisbon took her jacket from her hanger and led the way outside her office.

Meanwhile, Patrick Jane was in the kitchen, wondering why a Marine Colonel would visit Lisbon. Sipping his tea, he allowed himself to speculate. She could be here for a case, but the fact that she had been surprised when he had called her by her rank made him think that she was more likely there on a personal basis. Maybe she was a relative, the wife of one of her brothers...

When Cho, Risgsby and Van Pelt arrived half an hour later, Jane was dozing on his couch which seemed to be one of his favorite activities.

"Lisbon isn't here yet?" Van Pelt asked. "That's weird, isn't it?"

Jane sat slowly on his couch, stretched his arms and answered quietly:

"Well, she was here when I arrived; I think she left with a Colonel Sarah Mackenzie from the Marine Corps who came to visit her. Any of you ever heard of her?"

No one seemed to know anything about Sarah Mackenzie so Jane just kept himself entertained constructing another origami animal to add to the collection steadily growing on his desk, until Lisbon came back several minutes later.

But even then, he had no chance at asking her anything because she went directly to her office, pretending not to notice his attempts at capturing her attention.

For once Lisbon was glad they had no cases, it gave her the chance to stay in her office. She wasn't particularly keen on paperwork but it had to be done anyway and it gave her time to think. She had been quite surprised by her sister's early visit but she was glad about it. They had taken the time to apologize to each other about what had happened few years before and they were both relieved not to have lost each other for good.

But what Lisbon hadn't been expecting with this conversation was the big piece of news her sister had dropped on her like a bomb.

_ They were casually talking about San Diego and Sarah's new flat when something occurred to Lisbon:_

_ "Hang on....You moved out here with a guy, right?"_

_ "Well... Yes, I did..."_

_Sarah should have known it wouldn't take much time for her sister to get that. She was more than OK with her finding out, but she couldn't help but being anxious about her reaction to the big piece of news._

_ "Anyone I know?"_

_ "Yeah, as a matter of fact... I'm with Harm now." Sarah answered hesitantly._

_ "Harm? Really?" Lisbon was feeling a mix of surprise and happiness._

_She was wondering how they had finally made their way from their cat-and-mouse game to being together as she caught a glimpse at her sister's right hand._

_ "Oh, my god! Look at that ring of yours!"_

_ "Oh, yes. That's what I was trying to tell you about!"_

_ "You're engaged to Harm?"_

_ "I am!"_

_ "Wow! Congratulations! It's probably the last thing I was expecting from you, but it makes perfect sense!"_

_ "Yeah, it does."_

Half working, half lost in thought about her sister's announcement, Lisbon made her way through the morning.

When she lifted her head towards the clock moments later, she was shocked to realize it was already time to go pick up her sister for lunch. She had decided to take Sarah to the nice restaurant Jane had invited her to when he wanted to show off with Mashburn's car.

She took her jacket, walked into the bullpen to tell her team she was going out for lunch and left.

The bullpen was pretty quiet when a man in his mid-forties walked in. Van Pelt was the first to notice him. His figure reminded her of Rigsby: wide shoulders, tall... She was thinking she wouldn't have told him no if he was few years younger when she realized he seemed to be looking for someone. She was about to go talk to him but noticed that Jane had been quicker than her, he was already shaking hands with the visitor, with that disarmingly charming smile on his face.

" May I help you?" Jane knew he was being nosy again but he couldn't help himself. Too many strange faces were appearing today, it was a little disconcerting.

"I guess so. I'm looking for my fiancee, Sarah. She should be here I guess. She came to visit her sister, Teresa." The tall man answered.

"Teresa as in Special Agent Teresa Lisbon? Interesting..."

Jane was wondering why Lisbon would keep from everybody she had a sister when she didn't hide she had brothers. It didn't make any sense.

"Well, have you seen her around?"

"Lisbon is out for lunch, maybe they're together? How about you stay here with us while waiting for them to come back." Jane wasn't offering hospitality out of pure kindness, he just wanted to know more about Lisbon's secret sister.

"Why not? I guess. So you work for Teresa?"

"Yeah, kind of. More like with, I'm not an agent, I'm a consultant. And what about you? What do you do for a living?"

"Well, I used to be a Captain in the Navy" The man said proudly. "But I resigned my commission to come live here in California with the love of my life. That would be Sarah."

"Really?"

"Yes, we both worked in DC, with the Judge Advocate General, but she was assigned to San Diego recently. And that's what it took me to realize I definitely could not live without her."

"That's a cute story... And have you known Lisbon for a long time? I mean... Teresa?"

Jane felt weird talking about Lisbon using her first name, but he really needed to know more about this sister thing. And this guy seemed to be able to provide a good insight into that matter.

"To be honest I've met her a couple of times, but that was really a long time ago. She and Sarah haven't seen each other for a while. I don't know all the details, but I think they had a big argument few years ago."

Jane was more and more intrigued. He wondered what could cause Lisbon to not talk to her sister for years.

"Interesting..." He answered in order to keep his interlocutor speaking. "So they're probably trying to make things better over lunch now..."

"I guess... Talking about food, I'm looking for a nice restaurant where I could take Sarah in order to celebrate our moving to California... Don't suppose you know a nice place somewhere?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. How about I take you there now so that you can decide if it fits your taste? We should go and have something to eat, I'm getting hungry anyway."

"Sounds good. By the way, I'm Harm." He said, realizing they hadn't introduced each other.

"I'm Patrick." Jane answered with a wide smile.

Lisbon and Sarah were having lunch in a charming restaurant in Napa.

"Nice restaurant, sis' ! How'd you find it?" Sarah was thinking she should definitely bring Harm there when she noticed her sister's cheeks had turned the color of the red tablecloth.

"Aha! The plot thickens..." Sarah thought. "Could my sister have a boyfriend maybe?" She knew Teresa was a workaholic but, by all accounts, so was she and still, somehow, she had found time to fall in love.

Everything was starting to become clearer in her mind, Teresa had spent most of the ride talking about the consultant of hers, Patrick Jane. There was definitely something odd with the relationship between the two of them. It was kind of difficult for her to figure if her sister was more irked or charmed by this man but she seemed to care a lot. And as for Jane, from the short moment she had talked to him, Sarah had gathered he was quite protective over his boss.

"Jane brought me here once." Lisbon said hesitantly.

Sarah smiled as she realized her intuition was right.

"Did he? Really? Come on Teresa, are you two dating?"

Lisbon was quite surprised with her sister's question.

"You're way out of line Sarah. What possessed you to even think that?"

"Am I? I swear the way you talk about him makes it hard to believe you..."

"Yeah right!" Lisbon was getting a bit irritated by her sister's insinuation. "I tell people about him 'cause I need to expel the stress he puts me through, that's all! I spend a large part of my time damage controlling all his actions; he doesn't seem to be able to keep away from trouble for long. He keeps unnerving our witnesses and we end up with piles of lawsuits because of him. Why would I ever want to spend my free time with him? See, just talking about him makes me tense! How about we change the subject?" Lisbon finished her rant with a slight, tired smile.

"Not yet..." Sarah wasn't going to give up so easily. "You care about him, don't you?"

"Of course, I care about him, he's one of my coworkers!" Lisbon answered, suddenly becoming more interested in her cutlery.

"But you didn't talk that much about your other colleagues..." Sarah insisted.

"Me calling him a pain in the ass makes you think I like him? Really? He's a twisted man, he lost his wife and child to Red John and his number one priority is to get his revenge. You really think that's the kind of man I need?"

"Wow, he doesn't seem to have such a background!" Sarah didn't bother to hide her surprise.

"Yeah, I know! He puts a lot of effort into his cheerful facade... But in fact, he blames himself for what happened to his family..."

"Well..." Sarah interrupted. "Even if he's not the most available guy... Don't tell me you've never thought about it!"

"That is none of your business! You may think he's too good-looking for his own good but would you give me a break?"

"See, I knew I was striking the right chord!" Sarah said triumphantly.

"For goodness sakes! The only reason he's nice to me is because he needs to stay on my team to be involved in the Red John case. He's not interested in me at all. Believe me, he's too self absorbed to be interested in anyone." She added with more than a hint of sadness.

The two sisters were too absorbed in their conversation to notice all the other women in the restaurant were fidgeting in their chairs trying to get a good look at the two hot guys who had just walked in. Harm and Jane were not oblivious to the effect they had on women, but they pretended not to notice and followed the waiter to a table near the window.

They sat down and while Harm was looking around trying to decide if Sarah would like the place, Jane started to study the menu.

"So," Harm asked. "As you know the place, what's the best thing on the menu?"

"Well," Jane said lifting his head. "I was looking at today's special which seems interesting but if you're looking for something to impress a woman, I'd recommend you order the 'Dolce Vita'. Trust me it's a real treat!"

"OK then, that's settled!" Harm decided. "But wait, does that mean you've been here before trying to seduce someone? You're not flirting with me now, are you?" He added with a wide grin.

Jane was happy to share his lunch with such a lighthearted guy, it was a big change from lunch at the office where everybody was always so engrossed in work. It felt nice to have a break for once.

"Well, I wouldn't risk it..." Jane answered happily. "I'd rather stay in good terms with my Boss's sister."

"No kidding!" Harm said smiling. "You don't want to mess with my future wife!"

As they were joking happily, the waiter came to take their orders. Harm picked what Jane had advised him to and Jane chose a plate of pasta. The waiter had already left when they decided they wouldn't be against a little bottle of white wine after all, so Jane went to find the wine waiter.

He was looking all around the restaurant when his ears locked on a conversation which took place on the other side of a wooden panel.

**:) Please review :)  
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**We enjoy knowing what you think of the story so far :)  
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	3. Chapter 3

**Dress Whites and mind games**

**A/N :Thanks again to all the reviewers :) We're glad you're still enjoying the story :)  
**

**We had a hard time finishing this chapter but hopefully it was worth fighting!**

**A huge thanks to our beta-reader pjtl4e! Your comments have helped a lot :) You'll see I've added stuff after I received your editing :)  
**

**Disclaimer : Last time I checked, neither of us was Bruno Heller... He's the owner you know...**

Chapter 3:

"...He's not interested in me at all. Believe me, he's too self absorbed to be interested in anyone."

Jane knew that voice very well. He was quite stunned that Lisbon was there, in the very restaurant he had taken her to; but he figured it had to be a good thing.

Surely it meant she had enjoyed it, at least to a certain extent. He lent against the partition, closing his eyes and allowing his mind to wander back to that night.

_ By the end of the dinner, Lisbon had finally come to the point where she was almost relaxed, which was not a foregone conclusion considering the evening had started with her being very stressed out with his driving, having spent the entire journey yelling at him to slow down._

_ He had waited few minutes for her to get used to the speed but she kept threatening to either punch him or to shoot him._

_"__Calm down woman! Or __I'll__ drive us into the restaurant directly through the windows!"_

_He was very amused by the look his line had brought to her face; she looked half-stunned by the way he had spoken to her and half-afraid with the image of the disaster she knew he could cause._

_ "That's it, just breathe deeply..." Jane said slowly. "I bet you don't want to have another of Mashburn's damaged car on your conscious?"_

_ "Like the guy even cares what happen to his cars..." Lisbon answered with a weary look. "I still don't get it how he's not even a little bit pissed with what you did to that other car of his..."_

_ "Well, I may have let slipped your phone number in exchange for his understanding..." Jane answered innocently._

_ "You what?" She exclaimed, frowning._

_ "Just joking! I guess that was just my usual charm working... You know I can be pretty convincing when I want to."_

_ "Sure you can..." Lisbon answered sarcastically. "How about you keep your jokes for tomorrow? I've already had enough mind games for today! Where are you taking us anyway?"_

_ Jane grinned, happy he had managed to take her mind off the speed. She was trying to guess which type of food they were going to have when he parked the car in front of an Italian restaurant._

_ They chose a table on the patio and started studying the menu._

_ Lisbon was surprised it didn't feel the slightest bit awkward to have dinner with Jane. His invitation had been so unexpected she hadn't had the time to think about it properly before climbing in the car. But now that she was contemplating the question, she was struck by the fact that going out to dinner alone with a coworker was really not OK, not in her book. She was wondering how she had agreed to this so readily as the waiter arrived._

_ He took their order and left with a shy smile. Jane noticed his self-consciousness and was about to rant about him being a newbie, given the stain on his jacket which was obviously related to an incident in the kitchen, which was probably going to make him jobless... when he remembered Lisbon had asked him to give her a break from his mind games._

_ After all, he had not taken her to dinner to make her grumpy, so he figured he'd rather have a shot at lightening her up, instead of annoying her with his guess work._

_ He knew it wasn't going to be an easy task to start her on any topic which wasn't job related but he felt like trying anyway because he thought she did deserve to have some fun once in a while._

The food was excellent and they were actually doing well at having a nice and civilized conversation but Lisbon couldn't help but being suspicious about Jane's sudden attempt at tactfulness. It was a good thing he was being smooth and refreshing but she was uncertain about his motives.

_ Jane was well aware of Lisbon's wariness about his demeanor but he pretended not to notice and, as time went by, it was pretty obvious her doubts weren't keeping her from enjoying her night out. She was in good spirits and most of the time, a smile was lightening up her lovely face._

And there she was again, at the very same table they had shared several weeks ago, conducting what appeared to be a very interesting conversation with her sister.

Jane resumed his eavesdropping.

"Sarah, come on! It's kind of childish from you to insist so much about that..." Lisbon was saying with an amusing tone. "I admit Jane's kind of attractive but that's all. I'm his boss, end of story!"

Jane knew about his good looks but he had never pictured his boss pointing it out to anybody. The image of Lisbon blushing at the idea of him having access to her innermost thoughts came to his mind. He wasn't making this image up from scratch, he had seen it before, twice at least. Last time being during that dinner he had just been thinking about.

_ They were seated face to face, enjoying their deserts and talking about Lisbon's favorite type of car when she remarked:_

_ "You know, at first I was convinced there was something odd with your asking me to dinner, but it's going surprisingly well... You sure they're nothing hidden in my cake?"_

_ "Nothing there my dear Lisbon!" Jane answered, amused by her mistrust._

_ "And no Mashburn showing up for desert either?" Lisbon whispered across the table, still a bit anxious._

_ "Nope! You know... You should really work on your trust issues... I thought we were past that already..."_

_ "Jane! Please... Even the greatest trust fall couldn't overcome the fact that you spend your time doing reckless stuff mostly behind my back. So if I'm left second-guessing each and every one of your moves, blame it on the job..."Lisbon said with a playful smile._

_ "Well, I'm sorry to hear that..." Jane answered. "But there's nothing more to this dinner than two colleagues enjoying a meal together; no tricks, no stunts! I promise."_

_She seemed to calm down a little at his words._

_ "Seriously Lisbon, I meant what I said earlier today; you should really try to have some fun more often. It would ease some of the stress out!" He pointed out. "You see, going to dinner with a friend is a good start... But I still think you should try a little glamour as well, empty or otherwise..." Jane lowered his voice and lent across the table. "I could give you Mashburn's cell number..."_

_Lisbon couldn't believe he was bringing that up again. She pointed her fork at Jane with a threatening look:_

_ "If you don't stop that right away I'm leaving with the car and neither you nor your dear friend is going to see the shadow of it ever again!"_

_ "Wow, that's harsh! I'm just trying to be a friend here Lisbon..." Jane answered with a grin._

_ "Well, be a friend but be a quiet one!" She answered taking a mouthful of chocolate cake._

_ "Empty glamour, really? What the well is wrong with him?" Lisbon was wondering. "What makes him think I need action? Come on, it's not like it's written on my forehead that I haven't been seeing anyone in a while, is it?"_

_ She was trying to reassure herself but it wasn't working. He did have a kind of sixth sense that enabled him to infer things about her that she'd rather keep private and it was really annoying. Especially since she had started having these dreams._

_ It had all started after the Rancho Rosa High reunion. If only she had kept her mouth shut about 'more than words' being her favorite song..._

_ She had enjoyed being in his arms more than she was supposed to, and it seemed her subconscious wanted her to remember that. Not only she had dreamed about that dance several times, but after a while, the dream had changed into something else entirely. Something she wasn't willing to tell to anyone about, even at gunpoint._

_ And there was worse to this whole dream thing. Sometimes when she wasn't careful enough, she would lose herself in Jane's deep blue eyes and she would start fantasizing. Just like she was right now._

_ Lisbon felt her cheeks redden when she realized Jane had been watching her during her whole reverie._

_ She was really counting on the fact that there are no such things as psychics._

_ And Jane had recognized the look on her face at immediately._

Jane was brought back to present time by the vibrating of his cell. Looking at the screen he was surprised to see Lisbon's name flashing in bright letters.

Flipping the phone open, he heard her crisp voice in stereo, through the earpiece and over the partition, informing him they had a new case and he was needed back at headquarters. Thankful that she hung up before he could answer her, and therefore give himself away, he headed back toward Harm to tell him he had to go. Then, he left the restaurant, managing to avoid Lisbon.

The latter had left her sister alone with her desert but, as a Marine Colonel, Sarah understood very well what 'duty calls' meant. She decided to call her fiancee while finishing her apple pie.

She was telling him where she was when, one minute into their conversation, she looked up at Harm's handsome face. She was quite taken aback by his sudden appearance.

Harm looked rather surprised to see her as well. He took a seat near her while explaining he had left San Diego to join her as soon as he had found her note.

"I have to admit it's a good surprise to bump into you like that!" He told her, placing a kiss on her lips.

"It is a wonderful surprise!" Sarah granted, responding to his kiss. "But tell me, what are you doing here if you didn't know I was there?"

"Well, I went to the CBI building to find you but instead I met Teresa's consultant, Patrick Jane. Nice guy by the way... So we were talking while waiting for Teresa and you to come back from lunch when I told him I was looking for a place to have a nice dinner with you. He suggested this restaurant and we came so that I could see for myself..." Harm explained with his signature grin.

"Well, about that Jane guy..." Sarah remarked. "I think my sister has a soft spot for him... The way she goes on and on about him, it's pretty amusing. She says he makes her work way more difficult and claims he annoys the hell out of her but I clearly saw that sparkle in her eyes while she was talking about him... She wouldn't put up with his antics if she wasn't slightly in love with him..."

"Really? Funny to hear you say that because I've been talking with Patrick and I gathered he knows this place from having invited someone he intended to seduce... If your sister knows this restaurant as well, maybe she was the one he wanted to seduce..." Harm suggested.

"Could be..." Sarah answered, reflecting. "Actually, Teresa told me he was the one who took her here; but she doesn't seem to believe he's interested in her at all..."

While Harm and Sarah were plotting about Jane and Lisbon's twisted relationship, Special Agent Hightower was preparing herself to act on Jane's last stupid move.

He'd gone too far this time. The murder of ADA Kelly Flower was an important case and he had managed to crap all over the clues in no time, which had had the consequence to take the investigation back to zero. She had told him what would happen if he did something like this, who would suffer the consequences of his shenanigans...

"Well," Madeleine told herself. "This is exactly what I needed. An excuse to give Lisbon some time off..."

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